Helpers Package

Helpers Package

Generic utilities - Portable helper functions with no external dependencies.

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Overview

The Helpers package (packages/helpers/) provides generic utility functions that can be used in any Go project. It has no external dependencies beyond the standard library.

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Package Structure

packages/helpers/
├── config.go     # Configuration parsing
├── sanitizer.go  # JSON/JSONC sanitization
└── pointers.go   # Pointer helpers

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Configuration Helpers

ParseStringWithDefault

Parse string with fallback value:

func ParseStringWithDefault(value string, def string) string

Usage:

// Returns "default" if value is empty
result := helpers.ParseStringWithDefault("", "default")  // "default"
result := helpers.ParseStringWithDefault("value", "default")  // "value"
result := helpers.ParseStringWithDefault("  ", "default")  // "default" (trimmed)

ParseIntWithDefault

Parse integer with fallback:

func ParseIntWithDefault(value string, def int) int

Usage:

result := helpers.ParseIntWithDefault("42", 0)  // 42
result := helpers.ParseIntWithDefault("", 0)    // 0
result := helpers.ParseIntWithDefault("abc", 0) // 0 (invalid)

ParseBoolWithDefault

Parse boolean with fallback:

func ParseBoolWithDefault(value string, def bool) bool

Supported true values: 1, true, yes, on Supported false values: 0, false, no, off

Usage:

result := helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault("true", false)  // true
result := helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault("yes", false)   // true
result := helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault("1", false)     // true
result := helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault("", false)      // false
result := helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault("invalid", false) // false

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JSONC Sanitizer

Handle JSON with Comments (JSONC) format.

SanitizeJSONC

Remove comments from JSONC string:

func SanitizeJSONC(jsonc string) string

Features:

• Removes single-line comments (//)
• Removes multi-line comments (/* */)
• Removes trailing commas
• Preserves comments inside strings
• Handles edge cases

Usage:

jsonc := `{
    // This is a comment
    "name": "Test",
    "value": 42, // inline comment
    /* Multi-line
       comment */
    "enabled": true,
}`

clean := helpers.SanitizeJSONC(jsonc)
// Returns valid JSON without comments

ParseJSONC

Parse JSONC to map:

func ParseJSONC(jsonc string) (map[string]interface{}, error)

Usage:

data, err := helpers.ParseJSONC(`{
    // Config file
    "name": "MyApp",
    "version": "1.0"
}`)
// data = map[string]interface{}{"name": "MyApp", "version": "1.0"}

ParseJSONCArray

Parse JSONC to array:

func ParseJSONCArray(jsonc string) ([]interface{}, error)

Usage:

data, err := helpers.ParseJSONCArray(`[
    // Items
    {"id": 1},
    {"id": 2},
]`)

ParseJSONCToString

Parse and re-stringify to clean JSON:

func ParseJSONCToString(jsonc string) (string, error)

Usage:

clean, err := helpers.ParseJSONCToString(`{
    "name": "Test", // comment
}`)
// Returns formatted JSON string without comments

ParseJSONCToType

Generic JSONC to type parsing:

func ParseJSONCToType[T any](jsonc string) (*T, error)

Usage:

type Config struct {
    Name    string `json:"name"`
    Version string `json:"version"`
}

config, err := helpers.ParseJSONCToType[Config](`{
    "name": "MyApp",
    "version": "1.0"
}`)

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JSON Utilities

ParseJsonToString

Convert map to JSON string:

func ParseJsonToString(m map[string]any) (string, error)

Usage:

data := map[string]any{"name": "Test", "count": 42}
jsonStr, err := helpers.ParseJsonToString(data)
// jsonStr = `{"count":42,"name":"Test"}`

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Import Path

import "gitlab.com/altacrest/flow_binaries/packages/helpers"

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Use Cases

Use Case	Function
Environment variables	ParseStringWithDefault, ParseIntWithDefault
Configuration files	ParseBoolWithDefault
JSONC config files	ParseJSONC, SanitizeJSONC
API responses	ParseJSONCToType
Dynamic data	ParseJsonToString

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Examples

Environment Configuration

import "os"
import "gitlab.com/altacrest/flow_binaries/packages/helpers"

func LoadConfig() Config {
    return Config{
        Port:     helpers.ParseIntWithDefault(os.Getenv("PORT"), 8080),
        Host:     helpers.ParseStringWithDefault(os.Getenv("HOST"), "localhost"),
        Debug:    helpers.ParseBoolWithDefault(os.Getenv("DEBUG"), false),
    }
}

JSONC Configuration File

func LoadJSONCConfig(path string) (*Config, error) {
    data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }

    return helpers.ParseJSONCToType[Config](string(data))
}

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Dependencies

This package has no external dependencies - only uses Go standard library.

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Related Documentation

• Packages Index - Package overview
• Core Helpers - Core-specific utilities
• Backend Helpers - Backend utilities